Ella Enchanted brings clever fairy tale credentials (including narrator Eric Idle) in its energetic pursuit of a finale where Ella can have her cake and eat it too.
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04/08/04
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Ella Enchanted (2004)
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Reviews Counted:111
Fresh:55
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Hathaway is a charming heroine, but the simple storyline gets overwhelmed by silly gimmickry.
Theatrical Release:Apr 9, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $22,811,339
Synopsis: Similar to SHREK and THE PRINCESS BRIDE, this fantasy adventure, based on a book by Gail Carson Levine, combines fairy tale with sly, 21st century pop humor. Teenage Ella (THE PRINCESS DIARIES'... [More]
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Joanna Lumley, Cary Elwes
Director: Tommy O'Haver
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Reviews for Ella Enchanted
A film adults can enjoy with their younger family members or alone, and might not too be embarrassed to recommend to their friends.
04/08/04
... there's an unabashed charm in Hathaway's sweet and spunky performance and a rejuvenating energy unleashed in a pair of bright musical numbers.
04/08/04
A nightmarish cross between prime-time WB and a renaissance festival.
04/08/04
In its attempt to fuse a fairy-tale fantasy with a modern sensibility, the movie winds up a corny, derivative mishmash.
04/08/04
The movie is an embarrassment -- another example of Hollywood excess overwhelming and sinking an otherwise unassuming story.
04/08/04
Top CriticThough its moral is 'to thine own self be true,' the filmmakers failed to listen to its spin-doctored Cinderella and instead recycle elements of Shrek, The Lion King, and Lizzie McGuire.
04/08/04
Top CriticLeaden, sophomoric, lumpen, Ella Enchanted belongs in only one place: the cinder bin that spawned it.
04/08/04
The movie works too hard to be entertaining, but Hathaway is so radiantly lovable that she could make an ATM withdrawal feel like a fairy tale.
04/08/04
This anachronistic Cinderella with a twist displays the same warped humor and fairy tale awareness of Shrek.
04/08/04
One of the smartest films for older children in quite some time, Ella Enchanted is a funny (and at times, politically pointed) take-off on the ancient conventions of fairy tales.
04/08/04
Top CriticLikely to cast its spell primarily on adolescent girls, while their elders might well find it more than a little tedious in its familiarity and artificiality.
04/08/04
Top CriticBarely an original moment.
04/08/04
Hathaway ... does a classy job of toppling the helpless 'save me!' Cinderella stereotype.
04/08/04
Top CriticOccasionally fun but too reliant on gimmicks and purloined plotlines to rank alongside the better kids' movies.
04/08/04
Top CriticAdds too many gimmicks to a story that had plenty going for it already.
04/08/04
The script is a patchwork quilt: sometimes winsome, sometimes wisecracking, sometimes serious, usually just silly.
04/08/04
Considering its pedigree, this Ella could have been a whole lot more enchanting.
04/08/04
A fractured fairy tale as bright and bouncy as an ABBA song.
04/08/04
The movie is good entertainment for the younger-than-14 set. But it's not quite inventive or spectacular enough to fully charm anyone older.
04/08/04
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